Rear-impact accidents are known to cause serious injury and are the most common form of accident, based on National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) records. The administration says these types of crashes cause approximately 30 percent of car wrecks, resulting in many injuries and fatalities per year.
When looking at the statistics for rear-end collisions in the United States, almost two million people are rear-ended each year, resulting in an average of 1700 deaths and half a million injuries.
Rear-end Collisions: What Causes Them?
The Highway Safety Board says distracted driving causes approximately ninety-percent of rear-end accidents. This involves, among other items, drivers using their cellphones, navigation systems, snacking, adjusting the temperature, or changing the radio station.
Tailgating, speeding, cutting directly in front of the next driver, or braking suddenly are all forms of violent driving. If drivers do not operate according to the road conditions, extreme weather events such as freezing rain, icy roads, flash flooding, puddles, and more can result in serious accidents.
Driving under the influence is another major cause of rear-end collisions, as intoxicants affect drivers’ judgment. Many people work long hours and then sit behind the wheel or drive for continuous hours, resulting in exhaustion, impairs judgment, and often results in rear-end collisions. It’s essential to pay attention to the factors that contribute to these types of crashes and to everything going on around you, such as your driving ability at any particular time.
You can’t do anything to avoid being struck in the back, but you can do a lot to avoid hitting another car. Follow the road rules, avoid driving when tired, drive slowly in bad weather, avoid distractions in your vehicle, no matter how tempting they are, and never tailgate.
Common Injuries Caused By Rear-end Crashes.
Even minor rear-end collisions can result in injuries like whiplash, and some injuries can go untreated for days, months, or even years, posing a severe risk. It’s always a good idea to contact an accident lawyer in Antelope Valley to pursue chiropractic care following an injury, no matter how minor, to avoid more expensive procedures later on.
Whiplash is by far the most common, and it can involve a variety of soft tissue damage to the neck, such as ligament or tendon strain. Neck injuries can be excruciatingly painful and result in stiffness.
During a collision, the back may be injured in various ways, from the bones and ligaments to the cartilage. Since the back is involved in almost any movement, injuries can be stressful or even require treatment, resulting in time away from work.
When the head collides with an obstacle in an accident, traumatic brain injury (TBI) occurs. Although airbags help avoid any head injuries, whether the car has multiple airbags, like side airbags, individuals can still bang their heads.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) may have long-term emotional and physical effects. If any discs are compressed or displaced, spinal cord injury (SCI) occurs. Spinal cord injuries may result in full or partial paralysis in some cases, necessitating hospital stay to adapt and track the victim.
From head to toe, fractured bones are normal in car accidents. When an airbag deploys, it may cause fractures in the arms or face of the driver.
Because of the effect of the dashboard, individuals in the front always snap their legs. Thankfully, some broken bones will recover quickly with only a few medical visits and some time in general if you contact an accident lawyer in Antelope Valley immediately after the accident.
Unfortunately, this is not the case for those patients who need extensive treatment and may suffer long-term effects.
Finally, while crashes are inevitable and cannot always be avoided, it is everyone’s responsibility to pay attention to other drivers, road conditions, avoid driving erratically, and, most importantly, ensure that you are not contributing to the issue.
